On 19 May 1846, Congress passed an act to organize the Army’s third-ever Calvary Regiment, the Regiment of Mounted Rifleman. It retained that designation until early August 1861, when the decision to reorganize the Cavalry and redesignate all the Regiments based upon their chronology of creation was enacted and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment was subsequently reorganized.
Less than a year after its original organization, the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen took part in close-quarters combat with some of Santa Anna’s forces at the Battle of Cerro Gordo on 17-18 April 1847 and then on 20 April, were instrumental in helping General Winfield Scott rout the Mexican forces. When Scott reviewed the Regiment following the fighting, he honored them by removing his hat, bowing, and then exclaiming, “Brave Rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and have come out steel!” Scott’s compliment was been forever memorialized as the unit motto found on the 3rd Cavalry Regiment’s Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), sometimes called a unit crest.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
Enlisted personnel wear the insignia centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
More guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and
"Garrison Cap," respectively.Related Items:
3rd Cavalry Regiment Patch (SSI)3rd Cavalry Regiment Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)